News- Middle East: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not grant “safe passage” for 200 Hamas fighters to return from Israeli-occupied areas of the Gaza Strip to Hamas-controlled territory, even as he publicly endorsed US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan.

Israeli media reported on Monday, citing an “Israeli official”- a term often used to refer to Netanyahu’s office- that the prime minister “is not allowing safe passage for 200” Hamas fighters.

This came after Channel 12 news reported that some 200 Hamas fighters, estimated to be currently located in the tunnels underneath the Israeli-occupied parts of southern Gaza, especially in Rafah, will be granted safe passage to the Hamas-controlled areas if they agree to lay down their arms.

According to the initial report, Israeli military sources confirmed that a safe passage to the fighters will only be granted if the resistance movement hands over more corpses of dead Israeli captives.

The initial report by Channel 12 drew criticism from Israeli politicians, following which the “Israeli official” categorically denied that Netanyahu would grant such passage to Palestinian fighters stuck in Rafah.

“The prime minister persists in his firm stance on the disarmament of Hamas and the demilitarization of the Strip while eliminating terrorist threats to our forces,” the official claimed.

This comes as Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which was backed by Netanyahu in September, stated that “Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty.”

The initial phase of Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan took effect on October 9 and saw a prisoner exchange; however, further stages have not been negotiated yet.

Before the official’s denial, Israel's far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, described the initial report of safe passage to resistance fighters as “utter madness”, urging Netanyahu to “Stop this.”

Another hawkish minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, opposed the report, saying he was “demanding that all 200 terrorists who are beyond the ‘Yellow Line’ be killed or imprisoned,” in reference to the line introduced under Trump’s plan, which runs from northern Gaza to the outskirts of Rafah in the south.

Criticism also came from the opposition, with Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz writing on X, “We mustn’t let them out of the tunnels and reorganize.”

Meanwhile, Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman described the plan as “total insanity from a weak and pressured government” and that it couldn’t be allowed to happen.

Also on Monday, the Israeli military claimed to have killed fighters who had allegedly crossed the so-called “yellow line,” and “posed an immediate threat” to the forces stationed in the southern Gaza Strip.

The killings took place while it was "not always clear to troops on the ground where the line ran in various parts of Gaza," the Times of Israel reported.

Israel has killed at least 68,865 Palestinians and wounded 170,670 others since launching the genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, before a ceasefire deal was reached last month.

On October 10, Israeli forces completed the first phase of withdrawal to the "yellow line" but maintained control over nearly 58 percent of the Gaza Strip.

Source: Press TV